A new school year means a fresh start. It is a chance to do things differently, make changes or set yourself challenges for the coming year. A break from the routine has done us all good, but we are now ready to get back to it. I’ve been reflecting on a few things recently and have set myself some goals.

1. Don’t be a stressy mum, who shouts at the kids every morning – sad to say I failed at this one on the very first day, but I apologised straight away. The day before, the kids and I went on an hour and a half round trip to a specialist vet in an effort to save our pet budgie. We got antibiotics for him, but he was very poorly. I wasn’t sure what I would wake up to that morning and sadly, by the end of the day, he was dead. It wasn’t a good start to the new school year and it left me answering an enormous amount of questions about death (from the five year old), whilst trying desperately to calm my eldest, who considered him her responsibility and so was distraught at his loss.

2. Get up early every morning and write – I have managed to squeeze in an hour every morning to work on my manuscript since I set this goal. I got it back from an editor at the beginning of the summer holidays and there are a few things I wanted to work on. I’m now three quarters of the way through and hoping to finish this draft soon. I can then polish it off and send it to some agents.

3. Do some exercise – my old routine involved lots of exercise, but a back injury spooked me and so it hasn’t had the same appeal since. I found a great place, though and have identified three classes that are perfect for me. My goal is to attend at least one of these every week. If I make it to three, I will be super happy, but it usually depends on how busy I am and my deadlines for that week.

4. Quit sugar – I did a sugar detox almost three years ago, but the programme I followed was too restrictive and I couldn’t stick to it. I lost so much weight during the process as well. However, I follow a basic principle of as little sugar as possible and try to ensure that my family does the same. I recently discovered Sarah Wilson’s books and it has given me renewed enthusiasm to go sugar free once again. Her approach is much more realistic and it is supported with recipes and advice. It follows a principle of natural, non-processed eating, but it is also easy to adapt in terms of being gluten and dairy free. My husband, who suffers from reflux and digestive problems also benefits from this way of eating, so it suits us all.

5. Make some time after school – the thing that really weighs me down as the school term goes on is the endless amount of dashing about after school. I wanted to rearrange a few things to try and free up some of our time and then maybe the kids can have friends around to play (I might not think like this after we have had a few play dates, though!). So far, I have managed to secure us Wednesday’s off, with only one pick up to do on Tuesday’s. It’s not bad as a start and hopefully it will make a difference to us all.

Have you set yourself any goals recently? If you don’t work to the school calendar, do you take any other opportunities over the course of the year to reassess your life?

As always, I would love to hear from you.